Treasure of the Nile: Cleopatra’s Necklace
by TwirlsWrites
Summary: As Riley tries to work out his love life, Ben is stuck in the past while Abigail is looking to the future. And, while everyone is stressed out lets throw in a trip to Egypt! R&R better than it sounds. LOOK AT THAT! ANOTHER CHAPTER!
1. Prelude

**_.:Treasure of the Nile- Cleopatra's Necklace:._**

"Riley, how old are you anyhow?" Abigail asked, as Riley typed quickly on the computer, tracking down Ben, "Ben treats you like a teenager," she cracked a grin, "but you don't seem…"

"I'm 26." He chimed, cutting her off. "Don't worry, I get that a lot, my boyish good looks, you know."

"Really? You're only 6 years younger then Ben." She said.

"I am aware of this." Riley said, zoning into computer mode. Abigail turned back to watching out the window, muttering quietly to herself, "and a year older than me…"

He wasn't sure when it had happened- falling in love with his best friend's girl that is, but it had." Riley Poole spared a moment from his computer daze to glance at her from the corner of his eye- he loved her… he hated himself for it, but he loved her. Her subtle accent: normally only coming into her voice when she got worked up, the way her waves fell over her faces, the way her cheeks became tinged peak when the sunlight hit them just right, and the way she cared so much about things…

_"Like your best friend- her boyfriend B-E-N?"_ his inner voice spoke up. He sighed and turned back to the computer- the best money could buy. Riley realized he was being distant from his friends, turning to the computer, it was the only way he could zone out… like taking a nap.

_"'how old are you anyway?'"_ Her voice echoed in his mind. He typed harder on the keys, glaring fiercely. He was thrown from his 'dream' lost in the numbers, as Abigail's phone rang. She held it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked. A small grin appeared on her face and her cheeks flushed a light pink. _'Ben'_ he thought. 'It's Ben' she mouthed. Riley gave a large (fake) grin before turning back to his computer; he caught the pained look in Abigail's eyes and felt bad about it. But he had to be sharp, distant… he had to.

"Riley!" Abigail exclaimed for the third time, Riley jumped, "we're done for now- want to come back to the house? Ben's making spaghetti." It had long been determined in Ben and Abi's relationship that Abigail couldn't cook. Riley shook his head.

"Nah, My sister's coming into town today. I have to go pick her up at the airport." He aid with a shrug.

"Oh… you have a sister?" Abigail asked, her voice surprised.

"Yeah. Two actually. Elizabeth, my older sister, is the one who's visiting, my little sister Callie is in college in LA."

"Wow. Does Ben have siblings? He doesn't talk about his family much." Abigail asked, looking excited. Riley got a faraway look on his face.

"That's how we met actually." He said his voice suddenly grim and quiet.

"Really?" Abigail asked, Riley hardly heard her as he started his story.

"I met Rebecca when I was about 14, a freshman. My family had just moved into town… we were the best of friends, then we started dating and by the year we got out of High school… we were engaged.

"What happened to her?"

"She died." Riley said simply. "No one knows… why. Just one day she had a headache and went to bed early… and the next she was gone."

"I'm sorry…" was all Abigail said, her voice quiet.

"Yeah." Riley said, standing as Ben entered the café, "we all were."

"Hey guys." Ben said, his trademark smile on his face, "How do you feel about going to Egypt?"

"Egypt?" Abigail and Riley echoed.

"Yep." Ben said, "Egypt."

End Scene

(an: I don't know how many times this' been done. But I felt serge of creativity. Hopefully I can make it to the next chapter 'eh?)


	2. Numbah 1 please 3

**_.:Treasure of the Nile- Cleopatra's Necklace:._**

"Egypt?" Riley asked again. Ben nodded again

"Yeah- remember? They wanted us to go to the opening of the exhibit…"

"About…. 5 months ago, it was cancelled."

"And now it's ready to open." Ben said, laughing slightly. Riley sighed and shrugged.

"Ahhh, okay then." He muttered, rolling his eyes and turning away as 'Dr. Chase' went over to giver her boyfriend a real hello. She smiled up at him as the kiss ended, neither of them noticing the subtle wince from Riley in the background.

"I have a haircut, I'll see you when I get home." They shared another kiss before she left the building. As the ringing door closed Ben sunk into a chair, his cheerful, loveing expression turning tired and upset.

"Well..." Riley attempted to break the mood, "You look like you could use a drink."

(+small time jump+)

"…and I think she's expecting me to propose to her." Finished Ben. Riley choked on his drink, Ben didn't seem to notice his unsuppressed horror.

"Wow, you guys have been going out almost a year…" he said, "you haven't thought about it at all?"

'_I know I have'_ he thought to himself sadly.

"Well, yes I have, but I always thought that would be later. A year seems so soon." Ben said, taking another swig.

"You _are_ kidding aren't you?" Riley asked, trying his hardest to go into 'best friend' mode. Ben gave him a look to state that he wasn't, "A Year, what is so short about a year?" Riley exclaimed. Ben got a long, sad look on his face, "Oh God, don't say Rac-"

"Rachel and I went out for two and a half years before we got married." Ben said. Riley resisted the urge to and his head against the table.

"So? She and Abigail are different!" Riley said. Still no reaction, "You both were younger and stupid back then?" he offered, still getting no reaction he groaned. "Ben- you and Abigail love each other. Get engaged!"

_'And let me get some freaking closure!'_

"I'll think about it more once we're back from Cairo." Ben said in a dismissive tone. Riley groaned.

"You do realize its summer there." He mumbled.

-+EGYPT+- (Plain to Egypt that is)

Riley was…_Sitting on a couch, his ruffled suit and tie revealed that he had just gotten off work apparently. The front door flew open and the sound of small feet stormed up the stairs on the landing, fallowed by bags falling to the floor and more pairs of feet. A small dark-haired head appeared over the railing before Riley was promptly tacked by two kids. They giggled_

_"Daddy, you beat us home again!" he laughed, wrestling them off. Non-dream Riley was struck awe, they looked exactly like him- the older boy did at least. He had dark hair and eyes identical to… _Abigail's _the girl, on the other hand, though she also had his dark hair her eyes were the same sharp blue as his own. Two more children appeared on the top step. They were the same height- twin girls. Both with Abigail's hair, and his eyes. _God, I'm so going to Hell for dreaming this._ Riley thought to himself._

_"Happy April 4th. A Familiar voice said, climbing up the stairs. Dream Riley grinned and stood, walking over and kissing 'his wife' _God.

_"April 4th? Really. What's so special about this date?" He asked, a grin flickering over his face as her expression turned irritated. He pulled a bouquet of roses from behind his back. And gave her another kiss, "Besides our anniversary, or coare." He grinned. She rolled her eyes but beamed. _

_"Daddy said uncle Ben's coming over to baby-sit!" cheered the boy._

_"Ethan, that was a secret!" the oldest girl whispered loudly. The boy looked sheepish. The twins giggled._

_"Oops, sorry Dad." Ethan said. Riley grinned._

_"It's okay E." he said, "Your Mother would have figured it our anyway, "She's too smart for her own good."_

Abigail started to say something but Riley was rudely shaken awake

"Ughh, just a minute dear, I didn't forget the anniversary." He muttered, still half asleep, "Here are the ro-"he blinked blearily as Ben looked at him strangely.

"I didn't know you were dating anyone." Be said with a smirk. Riley shook him off, irritated.

"'mnot He grumbled, "It was just a dream."

"Why did you wake me up?" Riley asked his eyes still damp from sleep. He sat up and looked around the private jet- Abigail was dozing in her chair.

"We're almost there." Ben said. Riley blinked and there was a long pause.

"Ben, are you… nervous?" Riley asked, sounding amused- he had never seen his friends nervous before. Ben had always been the strong guy.

"No!" Ben exclaimed. "Well… yes." He admitted after a short pause, "I've never been to Egypt before." Riley laughed and Ben glared.

"Okay, okay. Sorry! I've never seen you nervous before!" that obviously didn't help, "Look man- just get some sleep, rest for a bit. You're just tired. You're Ben Gates! You don't get nervous!"

"Yeah, I guess." Muttered Ben. He walked back to his seat, next to Abigail's, and reclined, putting on a pair of headphones to block out the plane noise.

Riley sighed; he was still startled from being woken up so suddenly from the dream. He hadn't even gotten to yell at himself for it! He groaned and buried his head in his hands. Apparently the thought of Ben and Abi getting married hadn't helped. God. His stomach lurched, he imagined the scene-

_A beautiful, romantic, and historic scene played out. They were maybe out front of the Washington monument. Ben looks all classy in his suit- he gets down on one knee. Abigail gasps joy and surprise playing over her face. Ben gives a long and meaningful speech and presents he ring to her. He slips it on her finger and she cries happily, leaping into his arms and they share a long kiss. _

Riley slammed his head against the plane wall. He really needed to get over this, how on earth he would ever get over this. He should go into the witness protection program. He sighed again, feeling the plane lurch as they 'began the descent'

(Time Jump)

The three walked along the hallway, they were supposed to be meeting a representative from the Museum soon. Abigail was ecstatic; she kept gazing out the windows- as if to assure herself that they were really in Egypt! Riley threw himself into a leather chair. Abigail and Ben slid into two across from him. The click of high-heels broke the silence that had taken over the room. They all looked to the doorway.

A woman entered the room- her dark red locked lung loosely- framing her tan face. She wore plain jeans that clung to her figure, and a plain black tank top. Dark brown eyes searched the room and lit up in surprise and… fear (?) as she spotted the guests. Riley, Ben, and Abi looked up as the woman arrived.

Ben and Riley gasped- in sync with the woman.

"Ben, Riley? What are you doing here!" she asked, surprise lacing her voice.

"Rachel?" The two said at the same time.

-...-...-...-

A/N: Again, I realize it's pathetic. But I'm bored, typing randomly. I was actually surprised that I got 2 reviews- I was even more so that they were good ones::hugs: I know, it's like a soap opera- and it's kind of choppy, and there is no real flow. If you don't like it… I'm sorry? Okay, now if you don't know who Rachel was at the end, look back up at the top. ANY PLOT IDEAS WILL HELP!

And for the record, We all know that Riley wouldn't ever ""make a move""(notice heavy quotes) on Abigail while she was going out with Ben.

_Please Review 3_


	3. When ExclamationPoints attack

**_.:Treasure of the Nile- Cleopatra's Necklace:._**

Something was strange- Abigail noticed that right off the bat, Ben and Riley's expressions had just frozen in a mix of shock and horror, and the woman's had done the same. The woman, Rachel, seemed to snap out of it first.

"Ahem, hello, I'm Rachel Walker." She said, holding out her hand for Abigail to shake. She complied

"Abigail Chase." She said. The woman didn't bother to acknowledge the guys, who were currently whispering behind the suitcases, since she apparently already knew them; Abigail forced a business smile on her face and turned to Rachel as they walked from the building- Ben and Riley trailing behind with the suitcases.

"So how long have you been working in Egypt?" she asked

(Time Hop)

After being escorted to a car, and driving for an hour the tense party arrived on location. It looked a lot like a hotel… or a motel rather, building's two stories, attached. A big group of people stood near the center.

"Finally." Abigail heard Riley mutter under his breath. Abigail agreed, the car was a small, yellow VW bug. Ben had gotten the passenger seat- being as he was the one who discovered the treasure and Riley and herself had been crammed in the backseat.

Once out Abigail stretched as she looked around. Ben was grabbing the bags, Riley looked bored, and Rachel had already walked off- leaving the keys inside. Suddenly they were attacked…or rather Riley was. Abigail turned sharply in time to see a girl get off of Riley.

She was about and inch or so shorter than herself, reddish-brown hair pulled into a haphazard pony tail. Her wide blue eyes looked excited. The girl brushed some dirt off of her jeans.

"I see Riley's as weak as ever." She said, laughing with Ben. Riley glared, but accepted her hand to help him up.

"I'm not weak." He defended, "I'm just easily startled." He paused, "What are you doing here?" he asked "I thought you were teaching American History in Colorado or something?"

"Nah." She said, still not apparently noticing Abigail, "I didn't get the job, and Rachel said they were looking for- who are you?" she turned, looking curiously at Abigail.

Riley rolled his eyes, "This is Abigail, Ben's girlfriend." To this day Abigail didn't like being introduced as someone's girlfriend.

"Oh! You're Dr. Chase?" the girl exclaimed with a large grin.

"Yes… who are you?" Abigail asked.

"I'm Carolyn Walker, I went to college with Riley- I was his girlfriend's roommate." As she said this tension grew thick in the air. Ben tensed, apparently not wanting to tell Abigail what Riley had already told her. Riley paled, not wanting Ben to know he had told her, Carolyn looked confused, as though she didn't know why everyone had gone silent.

"Ahh, who?" Abigail asked, putting a confused look on her face. Carolyn blinked.

"Riley's old girlfriend, Ben-"

"Lyn, how about you go show Riley around, I'm going to talk to Abigail for a sec." Ben said, interrupting her.

"Alright but-"

"Come on!" Riley intercepted, grabbing his friend and dragging her off, "let's go!"

After a minute Riley and Carolyn were out of site and Abigail turned to Ben, "So… who are all of these people, how do they know you, and how do you know them?"

"Well…" Ben started, "Lyn, who you just met, was my sister's roommate in college."

"Wait." Abigail said, fitting the role of confused, "She just said she's was Riley's girlfriend's roommate."

"Yeah… that's…" Not wanting to hear the tragic story again, Abigail cut him off.

"Who was that Rachel girl?"

"Carolyn's sister." At Abigail's look he continued, "and ah… my ex-wife."

"WHAT!

(-POV Switch-)

"Why was Rachel driving your car anyway?" Riley asked as he dragged his friend away.

"She lost her keys, and what is the big deal with talking about who Becca was?" Lyn exclaimed in one breath.

"Because Ben has told Abigail basically nothing about his family."

"What?"

"Yes. So, it's kind of a secret. But, hopefully, not for long." Riley said, flashing a

Grin in her direction.

"That dude is like an ostrich." Muttered Lyn

"An… ostrich?"

"You know! Anything he can't control he just shoved under the sand! Don't get me wrong, I love him like a brother but still!" she exclaimed, waving her arms around. There was a long pause before Riley brought her into a bear hug.

"I missed ya' you're like a sister you know."

"This I do." She cackled, "So, who's the girl you like?" She opened on of the room doors and collapsed into a couch.

"What?" exclaimed Riley- immediately flushing a deep red as he himself closed the door and sat on the couch, "there is no _girl _I don't have some sort of _crush_!" he stuttered. Lyn rolled her eyes.

"She has a boyfriend?"

"…"

"Riley…"

"Yeah. She has a boyfriend, but he doesn't realize what he has… he doesn't see how great she is!" his eyes got a faraway look on his face and his mouth formed into a distant grin.

"Who is it?" she asked, confused and intrigued. She got a pained look on her face, "It isn't Rachel is it? Because man- can of friggen worms-"

"No! Eww! No!" Riley exclaimed.

"Then…?

"Abigail." There was a long silence.

"Chase?" Lyn asked. Riley gave her a withering look.

"Holy Lord." She said- unknowingly quoting Riley himself.

"I know."

"She's Ben's girlfriend!"

"I know." Riley growled again.

"She's _smart_!"

"I kno- Hey!" Carolyn just shrugged in response.

"What are you going to do?"

"That I _don't_ know. But thanks for your help." He said with biting sarcasm, matching it with a sarcastic smile. Carolyn glared at him.

"How long have you been crushing on her?"

_"Mr. Brown?" Riley asked, chuckling to himself. Ben nodded, distracted._

_"Yeah. My name doesn't get much respect in the academic community."_

_"Ahh, you're being cut down by the man." Riley said with mocking wisdom. Then he caught site of 'Dr. Chase', "A very cute man."_

_They dashed down the sidewalk- the goons close at their heels. Suddenly Riley charged into a group of lawyers. Panicked, he tried to push his way through. Like a horror movie it played out in slow motion. She turned to look- she ran into a bike messenger, knocking her into the ground! A truck, he had to get to her. He pushed his way through and with strength that wasn't his own: he grabbed her and tossed the two out of the way of the semi…_

"Riley? Earth to Riley!" exclaimed Lyn, waving an arm in front of his face. He was startled out of his memories, "So… awhile then?"

"Ehh." Riley said with a shrug.

* * *

A/N: There you have it- another choppy chapter with random junk thrown in

Many thanks to 'Crazy Little Emily' and 'Tigerlily Brown' 3

Review Please 


	4. Authors Note and a PREVIEW

**AUTHORS NOTE-AUTHORS NOTE-AUTHORS NOTE-AUTHORS NOTE**

**Hey Folks! Silvar Here. Anyhow youre probably wondering why I haven't updated in a while. For once, It's not because of Lack of Reviews heart**

**I'm actually going through more writers block. But, not only that, I feel stupid because I'm literally the ONLY one on the site writeing a Riley/Abigail.**

**COME ON FOLKS!**

**(Yours Truley)**

**Silvar**

**AUTHORS NOTE-AUTHORS NOTE-AUTHORS NOTE-AUTHORS NOTE**

_Preview from what I HAVE written so far_

_"Don't worry Riley, when I'm done with you You'll look like…" Lyn paused in thought, "You'll look like James Bond with a stupid goatee!" _


	5. Chapter 4 is upon us!

**_.:Treasure of the Nile- Cleopatra's Necklace:._**

"Liz… Liz!" Riley yelled into the phone, "Mom and dad live on 67 oakview drive, not oakview _road_! That's all the way across town…"

"Who's Riley talking to?" Abigail asked. They were in one of the buildings at the 'camp'. Ben and Abi shared a room, Riley had a room to himself, and Rachel and Carolyn supposedly shared the other room, but no one had seen the older sister, aside from Lyn, since they had arrived. They could hear Riley yelling through his door.

"His sister Liz, she was visiting when you guys left."

"Oh, yeah. He mentioned something about that a week or so ago."

The girls shared a small smile

"Liz! Look, I have to go shower…. Yeah, funny…. just call me to let me know you got home safe…. Okay, bye." They heard the click of the phone and a few seconds later Riley's door opened.

He was clad only in boxers, dragging a towel lazily after him. "Hey." He mumbled, walking through the single bathroom and closing the door behind him

"I see Riley still isn't a morning person." Laughed Carolyn, "What's up- you look troubled?" She asked, spooning some coco puffs into her mouth.

"It's just… Riley's been… different lately." Abigail confessed, relieved to finally get the thought off of her chest. She poured herself a glass of oranges juice.

"Really, How?" Lyn asked… she sounded nervous for some reason, but Abi pushed that aside.

"Colder, more… like, severe." Abigail said, taking a sip of her juice.

"Severe? That doesn't sound like mister Poole." Lyn said, sounding confused. As though to prove her point, the sound of running water split through the house, fallowed promptly by a yelp.

"I know! That's what I'm saying… it's so frustrating!"

"Just ask him about it Abigail." Lyn said, she stopped suddenly and looked around, "Where's Ben anyway? I've hardly seen him since y'all got here." Abigail smirked.

"Well, after keeping secrets from me- such as him having an ex wife, and a sister. I decided it would be nice for him to sleep on the other bed. So I didn't wake up when he left to see the museum."

"Ahh, what a shame- it's awesome in there." Lyn said, twirling her spoon around in her fingers.

"You've been in there?" Abi asked, sounding shocked. Lyn laughed and nodded,

"I helped design it! I'm no design major but I'm a lot better at making history look good then half the people here." She smirked, "They Have a plaque after you guys in there, did you know?"

Abi shook her head- a plaque? Wow "Really?"

"yep." Lyn said cheerily, "to the great discoverers Benjamin Gates, Riley Poole, and Abigail Chase' along with a bunch of dates and quotes." She shrugged, "I found it tacky but from the look on your guys' faces, I take it that you don't."

_'faces?'_ Abi turned, Riley had finished his shower, a towel around his waist, water was dripping from his mop of dark hair in front of his shocking blue eyes, dripping down over his chest, _'wow'_ Abigail thought before she promptly berated herself for thinking that.

"Cool!" Riley exclaimed, "Is the bluish green man there?"

"Yep!" Laughed Lyn, "We can go tomorrow at the ball!"

"The ball?" Riley and Abigail asked, in sync. Lyn laughed nervously.

"Did…. I not…. Tell you?" she asked innocently. The two glared and she coughed, "Heh., guess not. There's this … thing tomorrow. I mean- they call it a ball, but it's really just a sort of… informal Gala." Silence met this remark.

"At least I get to go to this one." Riley deadpanned, to break the silence.

"Wait! We've got nothing to wear!" Abigail said at almost the breath. Lyn finished her glass of juice.

"Ben picked you up a dress, Abi." She said, "and Riley, we have a place." Mischief gleamed in her eyes and Riley took a step back looking alarmed, "don't worry, bro. When I'm done with you, you'll look like…" she paused, "James Bond with a stupid goatee. Now go get dressed."

"It's not-"

"Go get dressed!" With a heavy sigh Riley turned and went into his room."

A few minutes later, the three were stationed in a room, equipped with bright florescent lighting and a few dressing rooms; along with rows, and rows, and rows… of tuxedos.

"I don't wanna-"

"Come on! It'll be the last one!" Cries came from the room; Abigail sat, bored, in the corner on an overstuffed chair, flipping through a magazine from 3 months ago. Riley had already tried on about 27 tuxes (though he claimed 89) and Carolyn was now forcing another one over one of the dressing-room walls.

"Just one more?"

"Yup. It'd go a lot quicker if you'd show us what you looked like in a couple of the suits." Lyn called in a sing-song voice.

There was a couple minutes pause as he changed. Then- slowly but surely, the curtain was pushed back and Riley walked out, turning around in model fashion.

"Wow." Lyn said in a long breath, sounding satisfied, "There you go! James Bond with a stupid goatee."

"It's not a stupid goatee!" Still, Riley tugged at the sleeved self-conciously and glanced at himself in the mirror .

"Abigail- confirmation please." Lyn said in the same sing-song voice. Abi looked up from her magazine and her eyebrows rose.

"Wow." She said, "Very nice." Riley flushed slightly, but turned away.

"So, do we eat now?" He asked, turning to Lyn. She checked her watch.

"Yep! And Ben should be back too!" she directed the last part to Abi and started putting a few of the rejected tuxes back on the racks.

Another few minutes passed and the three were sitting in a small booth in the world's collective restaurant- McDonalds.

"Where is he?" complained Riley, eyeing the bigMac a small kid was biting into the next table over, "I'm hungry."

"There he is!" exclaimed Carolyn as Ben came in through the doors. He caught sight of them and walked over- wearing his classic smile, "Hey Ben- Lunch is on you." Lynn said. He laughed.

"Fair enough, what does everyone want?" Riley started to speak but stopped as he caught sight of Abi's face.

"What is it." he asked, worried. She just pointed to the screen wordlessly. Her face was pale, They all turned- national news was on. The words were bright on the screen- large and bold.

**_UNITED STATES FBI AGENT PETER SANDUSKY FOUND DEAD IN WASHINGTON D.C_**

_**&&&&&&&&&&&**_

A/N: There you go! Holiday spirits blessed me with enough creativity to get off me- …bottom... and write the chapter! I have a sort of… mental plan on the outcome of the story so- no worries, it will more-than-likely be finished.

Don't look at me like that.

Review Please


	6. Chapter 6

___**Treasure of the Nile- Cleopatra's Necklace**___

Riley adjusted his bowtie on the 'James Bond' tuxedo. Lyn had hit below the belt, knowing full well he'd always wanted to be a Bond. Ben always got to be James Bond! And… he was getting side tracked. Riley glanced at himself in the mirror again, and then jumped as Lynn came in the room.

"Riley! Are you ready yet? Ben and Abi left, and you and I are going to be late. That includes you!"

"You already said me."

"I didn't think you were listening." Lyn said. She was in a dark blue, spaghetti-strapped number that turned into different shades of blue near the bottom; her hair was up in an elegant bun with curls framing her face, "What's taking so long? I remember when you showed up to your Christmas party in a Pepsi t-shirt and jeans."

"I'm nervous, alright?" Riley exclaimed, "It feels like something is going to go wrong tonight- I can feel it!"

"Rye. Sandusky is dead- what more can go wrong?"

"One of us dead?"

"Point." Lyn sighed, "If it's any consolation, Abigail _did_ say you looked awesome." Riley flushed umber and Lyn smirked.

"It's not that."

"Okay- then I'll tell you what? You are going to leave now, with me fallowing behind you. _OR_ I am going to take these firkin heels, and stab them into your _eye_." Her eyes flashed at this and Riley sprinted for the door.

"Going!" he exclaimed as Lyn haphazardly limped/ran behind him.

-----

"Hey." Abigail looked over and smiled s Riley slid up next to her, "Why aren't you dancing with Ben? I thought you loved this song." Abigail was startled that he remembered, and thus forth it took her a minute to respond- enough time for Riley's ears to redden.

"Oh, well- I do… but he's mingling." Riley looked to where Abi motioned to see Ben and Rachel unconsciously moving away from each other, "What about you? Didn't Lyn promise you a dance?" Riley rolled his eyes.

"First, don't say it like that. And second she's flirting." There was another long silence, and then Abi turned back to Riley suddenly.

"Would you like to dance?"

Riley wanted to say no. He really really wanted to say no. Not because he didn't want to dance with Abigail. It was just that- he didn't want to fool himself. But she grabbed him and pulled him onto the dance floor.

They continued dancing. Even as 'her' song faded, and multiple slow songs faded on and off, they continued in the close slow-song pose, rocking slowly back and forth across the dance floor. Abigail looked up and noticed Riley looking at her. She was transfixed in his gaze. The electric blue eyes seeming to stare into her.

---

Across the room, an elderly Ben fan was energetically introducing him to the 'amazing' professor Walker(Rachel). He hadn't noticed.

Lyn didn't notice either, at least not until more elderly museum fans were in a group talking about the lovely couple in the corner. Lyn glanced over, always willing to join in some elderly gossip and she started. They had that romantic movie couple looks. Where they gaze up into each other's eyes and then their faces slowly start to move closer together… until… they.

"Excuse me!" Lyn exclaimed, practically dashing from the group."(Well as best she could in heels)

"Riley!" she exclaimed as she hobbled over, breaking the two from their reverie, "Hey, dude, will you grab me some punch or something?" she smiled at him, putting an oblivious look on her face. Riley hastily nodded and dashed off.

There was a pause.

"Oh my god." Abigail touched her head, "what… was that?" she gazed at Riley's swiftly retreating form.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!" Riley whispered. Banging his fist against the wall with each word. He had found the 'Nile' room, and was sitting next to a running water feature. What was that.. the emotion.. He shook his head and banged his fist into the wall again. Then he stopped and tried to recover in a deep silence. But that didn't happen.

There was another person there. Riley glanced up, wondering if Lyn had come in after him. When the tall sturdy man who looked downright mean, he started to have second thoughts. The man instantly went to a fancy-framed picture of the Nile itself. He picked it up, turned it over and ripped open the back.

Riley hopped up as the man pulled a letter from the back, "hey! That's not your painting!" He exclaimed. The man started for a moment and turned to look at him. Then a relieved look passed over his face.

"Oh shut up punk. You're lucky I don't kill you- you're just the sidekick." Riley saw red. This was _NOT_ the day to anger him. He rose and strode over to the guy and glared fiercely.

"Drop it." The man laughed and pushed Riley away. Riley responded with a few tai-kwon-do moves. Grabbing his writs and twisting it, then putting him into a headlock. The Man let out a choked cry and fell to the ground.

Riley checked his pulse, feeling it he stood and brushed not-there dust off of his pants, "I'm not just a side-kick. I'm James Bond with a fucking goatee." With that said Riley turned… and walked back into the ballroom. He'd hardly forgotten what had just happened between him and Abigail, but at this point he believed the mystery letter would be more important to Ben.

AN: There. A chapter. Reviews make me happy 3


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